Leaf stemmer



April 2, 1929. J. GOUGH 1,707,223

LEAF STEMMER Filed Jan. 15, 1924 1------- .l-J zi ullm 1m! Y I v (4 770]? NE K5 Patented Apr. 2, 1929.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH GOUGH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO GOUGI-I STEMMING MACHINE CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LEAF STEMMER.

Application filed January 15, 1924. Serial No. 686,262.

Machines for extracting the long center veins from the blades of tobacco leaves and the like, customarily called stemmers, usually comprise a mechanism which pulls the stem or long vein through a device through which the leaf blade cannot follow, and by means of which accordingly the blade is stri )ped from the stem. The stripping device usually resembles a brush or comb, or card clothing, but these two essential parts of stemmers may assume various forms and cooperate in various ways. Such machines are not entirely effective however inasmuch as they frequently break the stems prematurely, thus leaving too much of the long veins in the blade. I

have found that much of this grievance may be eliminated by occasionally relieving the pull on the stem during the course of the operation and preferably fully releasing the hold of the pulling mechanism on the stem, so that the strainis occasionallyrelieved on both the stem and the blade during the stemming operation; theoperation is performed therefore in a series of steps, or by-means of a series of two or more short pulls rather than by a single continuous long pull designed to extract the entire main vein from the blade in a single movement. This method of operating materially reduces the number of failures, and in addition to this method of operation I have developed and disclose herein an improvement on a known form of machine whereby it is made to operate in accordance with my method. It will be obvious, however, that other forms of machines may also be adapted to operate in accordance with this method. i

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention applied to a known type of machine as aforesaid. Fig. 1 shows the same in elevation and somewhat diagrammatically; Fig. 53 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a detail of the stem extracting operation; and. Fig. 4. is a larger elevation of one of the stem gripping rolls of the preceding figures.

As is well known, at the entrance end A of the machine illustrated the leaves are laid on flexible conveyor beltsl, 2 and 3 with the ends oftheir stems substantially against the vertical guide board 4: which thus assures that the leaves will be passed through the machine and subjected to its operations in a uniform manner. These belts and the others hereinafter mentioned, movecontinu ously and at a uniform speed and are supported and driven by rollers which are carried in the machine framing 5, but which need not be and for the most partiare, not illustrated in the present drawings. The belt 3 terminates shortly in advance of the butting brushes 8. At this point, the leaves. pass underneath a short run of belt 9 of some weight, which 18 usually in the form of an endless chain of flat metal links travelling at the same speed as the belts 1, 2 and 3; this belt 9 presses the leaves against the belt 2 to prevent their endwise displacement during the operation of butting or cleaning the stems by the pair of brushes 8. These brushes are substantially cylindrical in shape (reduced in size at their ends, to admit the leaves between them) and are set nearly at right angles to the approaching leaves; they are rotated by their supporting shafts 1 0 which in turnare driven by suitable mechanism (usually from the same power source as drives the belts) the details of which form no part of this invention and are not shown. As the butts of the leaves pass between these brushes, the latter sweep the stems clearof blade for some short distance back from their ends so that clean smooth butts are presented to the stem grippersand the blade stripping IIlGCllfLIllSHl. At the stemming or blade stripping region, the machine is provided with a wide belt 13 which lies ruiderneath the bolts 1 and 2 and also projects for some iilistanee underneath the cleaned butts or stems where it is covered with card-clothing 14 or other wise provided with stiff teeth of wire or suitable material (Fig. 3). these upwardly projecting teeth to complete the blade stripping mechanism of the ma chine, is a belt or chain 15 (herein shown as slightly longer than the belt 13) which preferably comprises two parallel rows of hinged links having brush faces of a suitable mate rial (Fig; 8) the links of one chain are placed opposite the hinges of the other. I (merating stripping bolts 13 and 15 travel at the same speed as the bolts 1 and 2 and are so Cooperating with The co stripping belts 1,3 and 15 to a point within the grasp ofthe stem gripping mechanism.

Customarily (in this form of stemmer) this mechanism consists of a pairof generally conical rolls 18 and 19, havlng their axes placedatnearly right angles to the leaf stems andspacedfar enough apart to receive but firmly grip the leaf stems (Figs. 1, 2 and 3). In the present instance the lower roll'19 has Ibeenmhdifi'ed in accordance with the invention as later explained. These two rolls are also power driven and are driven at such a speed with respect to the speed at which the leaves are conveyed laterally by the various belts that the rolls pull the stems or long veins from the blades before the leaves pass beyond the reach of the" stripping belts 13 I and 15." As each stem is pulled, its blade is bunchedup against the teeth of the-stripping belts. (Figs; 2 and 3 and is withdrawn from the belt-lbut remainson or above the belt 2.

ire belt 2tern'iinates a short distance beyond the ends of the stripping belts 13 and 15 and 7 at this point the stemmed blades fall to the floor; the upper beltland stationary wires 23 and: 2 1 assuretheleaf blades being ex-- tracted from the stripping belt teeth should The they'tend to remain tangled therein.

stems aredischargcd' from the rolls into the wrong-n25. Those leaves wi ic-h fail to come within the reaclrof the stem gripping rolls 18 and 19, or in which the stems are broken before a suitable length 1s extracted from the blade, continue .on the :belt l-which extends I lft'inFigQQ, so'that the failures are dropped beyond the end'of the belt 2 as'shown at the into a 'pile separate from the pile of, suitably stemmed bladesdropped from the end of 2.

to retain-the failures on belt land prevents in progress through the machine. 7

I-Ieretoforethe two stem gripping rollers havebeen like tlre'upp'er roller 18 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. T hat is to say, each has assumed the general form of truncated cone f curvedor rounded at its forward end so that.

the leafstem's are guided into the narrow space between the rolls, although sometimes T grooved more or less longitudinally. Such rolls exert a: continuous pull on each leaf stem and endeavor to extract the long vein of the leafb'y-a single'long pull and in asin gle movement; In accordance with my l'ii'velllllOIl, I

preferably provide a deep circumferential Y groove, as at28, in at least oneof these conical rollsyin-the presentin'stance tl1e lowerroll lstrated. It is usually unnecessary to claims.

. 'Q is greovedinthis manner, and in effect this I "groove divides the roll into two longitudinal- 'flyseparatedconical rolls, and "separate rolls may-beused-in 'the stead-of the'two stem grip.-

pin --"portions.29;tand2 30' of the single roll I e *such a groove or circumferenential.

space in both the members 18 and 19 of the roll group. The roll groove 28, or circumferential space, 1 preferably make so deep that the grip of the rolls on the stem is substantially entirely released at this point. In operation, the forward portion 29 of the roll 19'coop'erates with the upper roll 18 to grip the stem initially and partly extract it. As the stem reaches the grooves 28 howcvcr the strains on the stem and blade are relieved moinentarily and the resiliency of the partly bunched blade is allowed to retract the stem somewhat and the blade is allowed to rc-urrange itself somewhat in its relations to the lade strippers 13 and 15. Subscquenllv, the rear conical portion 30 of the roll 19 (cooperating with the roll 18) resumes the grip on the stem and completes the stem extraction. 'lhe pull on each stem is relieved therefore during: the course of the stemming operation, and in this instance the stem is fully rel used in the course of the operation, and the complete operation is performed in a. series of steps and by means of a series of short pulls rather than by means of a single long continuous pull. r'\ lhis I find materially reduced the numhcr of failures as aforesaid, that is to say, reduces the number of leaves in which the principal long vein is broken before a su iicient part of itis extracted from the blade, and it is obvious that the same method may be adopted in other forms of stemmer mechanisms. The forward end of the rear roll or roll portion 30 may be suitably sloped as shown like the fore ends of the roll group 18 and 19, to guide the stem into position between 30 and 18.

It will be understood that my invention not limited to the details herein shown and described but is set forth in the following Claims 1. The method of extracting the stems from leaves which consist in exerting a series of pullson the leaf stem while retaining the blade, each of which-pulls partially extracts the stem, and relieving the strain intermediate pulls.

2. The method of extracting the stems from leaves which consists in exerting a series of pulls on the leaf stem, lengthwise thereof and thereby hunehing the leaf blade against a device through which the blade cannot follow the stem, each pull partly extracting the stem, and relieving the strain on the stem intermediate pulls. I 3. The method of extracting the stems from leaves which consists in exerting a scrics of pulls on the leaf stem, lengthwise thereof and thereby bu'uching the leaf blade against a device through which the blade cannot follow the'st-em. eachpull partly extracting the stem and releasing the stem intermediate pulls.

4. The method of extracting the stem from a leaf which consists in drawing the stem lengthwise through a toothed structure ill) substantially parallel to the direction of.

movement of the toothed stripping device so that a succeeding rolling surface grasps am'l'pulls on a stem after a preceding rolling surface has grasped and pulled on the same stem and so that the pull on that stem relieved during the stem-extracting operation. 7 v

6. In a leaf stemmer, the combination of a toothed stripping mechanism moving with and transversely of the leaves and through which the stems of the leaves project, and a pair of eo-operating conical rollers to grasp the projecting stems and pull the same throu h said stri nin mechanism one of said rollers comprising a plurality of longitudinally-separated stem-pulling members between which the pull on the stems is relieved.

7. In a leaf stemming mechanism, the combination of cooperating toothed blade-stripping belts moving with and transversely of the leaves and between which the stems of the leaves are received, and a pair of cooperating conical roller means to grasp the lea l stems and pull the same lengthwise through said moving belts, one of said conical roller means comprising a pair of longitudimilly-separated stem-pulling members between which the stems are substantially released and the forward ends of both of said pulling members being shaped to guide the stems into stem pulling position.

i 8. In a leaf stemming machine, the combination of blade-stripping means moving With and transversely of the leaves and from which the leaf stems can be drawn but through which the leaf blades cannot pass, and mechanism for grasping the stems and intermittently pulling each stem, by separate steps, from said blade-stripping means as the blades and stems move transversely with said blade-stripping means.

9. In a leaf stemmer, the combination o'l means moving with and transversely oi the leaves through which the stems can be pulled but through which the blades cannot follow, and mechanism to grasp the stems and pull them from the blades including a rolling member having a part cut away so that the pull on each stem is relieved during the stemmmg operation.

ln testnnony whereof, I have signed this specification.

JOSEPH GOUGH. 

